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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Irish Jewry

Stuart Rosenblatt has spent the last twenty years attempting to compile a comprehensive data base on every Jew who ever lived in Ireland from 1700 down to the present day. His entries currently run at around 52,000. While the database is stored on his computer and is digitally searchable, he has printed it out and the full set runs to 19 volumes. Last night (25/8/2015) he presented a 12 volume set to the city of Dublin. These are now on open access in the Dublin City Library and Archive in Pearse Street.

The photo above shows the Lord Mayor getting a sneak preview before the presentation; the shelving in the background is where the books now reside.

Margaret Hayes

City librarian, Margaret Hayes, welcomed the database to its new home and while she was at it took the opportunity to outline Dublin City Libraries' packed programme of activities over the coming months.

Dublin's Lord Mayor, Críona Ní Dhálaigh

The Lord Mayor thanked Stuart on behalf of the citizens of Dublin who will now have free access to this vast database.

Stuart outlined some of the contents of the database and the efforts required to bring it all together. Along with the set presented to Dublin City, there are sets in the Jewish Museum, National Library of Ireland, National Archives, Genealogical Society of Ireland, and in Cork, Limerick and Belfast.

Stuart, the Lord Mayor and the full 12 volumes (14 books)

Stuart shows the Lord Mayor sample pages from some of the 12 volumes. They are printed on acid free paper which Stuart says will last for hundreds of years.

Stuart expects his next volume to be an update in 2019 for his 75th birthday. This will deal with Heritage and the Book of Irish Jewry and he is toying with calling this volume The Soul of Irish Jewry 1700-2019.

An entry for Burmans in the alphabetical volume
Click the image for a larger version

The Burmans were one of two Jewish families who shared 53 SCR (Portobello) with my grand uncle Patrick Medlar's family in the 1940s. So I thought I'd look them up and you can see the entries in Stuart's alphabetical volume above.

From these records we know that there were four in this family. The father was a (presumably commercial) traveller and the two children were quite young at the time. There is no indication where the family subsequently went.

Patrick Medlar's family performed Shabbos goy services for the Jewish families in the house.

You can check out Stuart's site where he will interrogate his online database for a fee.

Or you can email him (srosenblatt@irishjewishroots.com)
or phone (+353 (0)85 730 6262).